Out of curiosity how many knives do you gentlemen carry while in the field and what types?

Here is what I have carried...

While packing in Alaska, I carried a fixed blade knife and two folders. I usually had the fixed blade knife and one of the folders in my pack and the remaining folder in my pocket. All drop point designs.

Prior to making knives, I would carry a fixed blade knife and a small folder while hunting deer and elk in the lower 48. Once again, both drop points.

Since I began making knives I carry a small fixed blade drop point on my belt and carry a Semi-Skinner in my day pack.

Thanks,
Lee
http://baumgarthandmadeknives.blogspot.com/

Normally two, sometimes three:

One with a folding blade - Either a Swiss Army knife or a 1990 Remington "Tracker"

One with a fixed blade - Almost always a stainless Randall 22-5 "Outdoorsman"

Sometimes I carry both folders

Maybe I just liked the names - Army, Tracker, Outdoorsman

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I've always got at least 3 different knives with me. My main knife is a Diamondblade. A Havalon Piranta plus a knife that I'm not afraid to use as a punch or chisel. This is the first year for the Havalon and I was impressed. The Diamondblade is the best knife I have ever owned as long as you stay away from bone.

I always have an Opinel no7 in my pocket. When Im hunting I have a No 9 close by. They really perform well for most tasks if not all.

I can't recall the last time I went as far as my mailbox without at least four knives of one descriotion or another ranging from a leatherman Micro to a USMC KayBar.

AD

I usually only carry a large clip point folder when hunting. First one I carried was a Buck 110, and afterwards used a Kabar Bear Paw, Opinel #9, BladeTech Pro Hunter, and now use a Benchmade 710. When doing the butchering I usually use 3 or so knives, but when hunting I'll only carry one.

Most of my hunting is done on my ranch, so my truck mostly carries my selection of knives as I usually transport game back to a cleaning area. Like many knife nuts, I've got waaay more knives that I can ever use but I'll carry some around in the truck and try them for a while on hogs or deer. Hogs are terrible on edges while skinning because of their tendency to roll in mud.

To answer the question, for years I carried a Spyderco Native in S30V and used it to partially or completely (down to quarters) process dozens, if not hundreds of hogs and deer. However, for some odd reason, as it has been sharpened, it doesn't take the edge it used to, and I am carrying it now mostly for the day to day ranching chores where scrapping and cutting on metal, etc is common. That doesn't help most edges. I use a Sharpmaker for most sharpening, quick and easy, but I'm taking the Native down to a finer angle and seeing what happens, not there yet.

Not original, and by far not my best knives for the purpose, but my hunting carry is currently a older full, but not the extra large, size Case trapper (2 blades). If I seriously think I'm going to have to skin something, I carry a Buck Kaala Mayo in S30V (no longer made but there is a similar one called Hartsook) which is a stainless small neck type knife, no handle, sharp as hell, and fits in a shirt pocket. Skin with it, hit it with the fine grits on a Sharpmaker and it is good for the next effort.

AFA best knives that I have used for normal hunting/skinning/processing purposes, that would be hard to say, but my set of David Winstons in S30V would be worthy of mention. I also think one of the sharpest and best knives I own is a Bob Marshall by Rick Dunkerley out of 52100, an amazing steel if done right, and Rick is a master of it. Luckily I was able to have him make me a pair of these, one for me and one for my son. Of course, unfortunately he no longer makes these "cheap" knives, most of his start well over $1000. They are not common but if you find one for sale (before I do ) buy it.

If someone is going to use the knives just for skinning/processing etc then getting a pair of Victorinox Forschners for about $20-30 apiece is some of the best money you will ever spend. BTW the one I use the most is the Fibrox Flexible Curved Boning knife. Cutlery and more has the 6 inch on clearance for $12.99....a helluva deal.

three

Knives should be more than one, simply for the reason that they are easily lost, drowning, etc.. to be without a knife even in the company of other hunters - not very comfortable, but if you are one, then it is fraught with failure of hunting, and even life-threatening, if you have to spend the night in the winter forest. The knife is need, even if you have the axe, which, of course, more useful than big knife for camping activities.
Many years ago I was fond of knives with a fixed blade, ready or handicraft, sometimes quite exotic (for example, a knife with a blade made of beryllium bronze, or multi-function knife with a detachable blade from the AK-47, or a large surgical knife with handle of saiga horns). But the big knife is completely useless as a weapon... Now I think that it's best Swiss Army Knife company Victorinox (not Wenger), models where the blade can be opened by a finger, and not by the nail. Saw, can opener and toothpick - in amount even more useful than the actual blade. One problem - you have to choose between the options with a corkscrew and with a Phillips screwdriver, both tools are needed . Those knives where these both tools combined - large and uncomfortable.
As a fallback - the Swedish so-called fishing knife company BAHCO, light, deep plastic sheath, with a "warm" rubber grip that does not slip when wet.
If you still have to take with a large knife, the device handle is almost the most important. Ideal type-setting arm of birch bark that doesn't make your hand feel cold. How to wear it? If on the Trouser belt, it is inconvenient when a long jacket. The outer belt, of course, useful, not to cling by the belly behind the bushes. But to wear the knife on it is a sure way to lose. Have to wear or in a large pocket, or in backpack. But so the knife does not perform its main function: to be an ornament of a real hunter. This problem I haven't decided yet.

I carry three bladed tools every day - a Leatherman Squirt with a small pen knife type blade (useful for cleaning fingernails and digging out splinters, and the scissors are handy), an inexpensive do-it-all NRA model Buck folder that I got in exchange for a "donation" to the NRA ILA (it recently replaced a nice little Kershaw because I lost one of the screws that holds the pocket clip on and I'm afraid to lose the knife until I find a replacement screw), and a Leatherman Wave with two knife blades.

When hunting, I also carry a solid custom made fixed blade knife for field dressing chores, either on my belt or in my pack. I keep a pair of butcher knives and a skinner in the truck for those times when I get a whole or mostly whole animal to the truck.

Two; a Puma White Hunter and a 4 inch drop point Old Timer.

I carry one while hunting. Either a fixed blade EDC from Billy Helton or a folding Jekyl from Surefire.

I carry a Whiteriver Bush knife, a small folder and sometimes a bowie knife, just depending upon where and how the hunting is

I carry a Swiss Army knife in the pocket and a small drop-point in the day-pack and that's about it, while actually hunting in the field.
The exception being for elk and moose, I then carry a couple fixed-blades instead of just one because the task usually involves full skinning and quartering, at a minimum.
Back at camp, I have an assortment depending on the task at hand.
Knives are like rifles; some days you just feel like carrying a different one.
Zeke

2.
A leatherman multi-tool for everything except butchering
and
A 4-5 inch fixed blade for gutting/skinning.

Don't like to get blood in a folder, and don't want a big fixed blade getting in the way when sitting down.

When I used to hunt a lot, the knives I carried varied according to the game pursued and my mood on that particular day.
For moose hunting, I'd carry either a WWII surplus combat knife (by Western IIRC) for splitting the sternum and disjointing the hips and pelvis, or a small one-hand bone saw. For the skinning of moose I mostly used a copy of a Morseth Cascade Skinner,(made of very high quality Damascus steel by Bill Buchner of Iydlewild, Oregon). Bill made the steel, the knife blade/hilt, the bolsters, the scales, the whole nine yards.

For deer I used two folders...one a Case Sodbuster (for gutting & skinning) and a Case Muskrat for any fine work which presented itself.

I always had a Victorianox in my truck's glove compartment, along with a good large soft (red)Washita sharpening stone. I had a very small hard (white) Washita stone in my shirt pocket.

Bird game didn't need much in the way of knives, as I learned early on how to gut a grouse or partridge by tearing a small hole with my fingers through the skin just below the breastbone and bending it backwards until broke in half. The guts then could be pulled out all in one mass together, and the bird's skin could be removed (if desired) by pulling it off just as one would a sock. The same technique works on rabbits/hares too.

I've got lots of pricier knifes, but those are all I ever needed in the field.

Like rifles, I don't believe in the jack of all trades and master of none philosophy.

I have 5 knives in my bag. Drop point folder and fixed, a skinner/gut hook, a caper and a longer fighter for general use. I'm looking at getting a semi skinner as well. None of these are particularly fancy as I have no issue using them as hammers, screwdrivers or whatever. My good knives stay at home.

FWIW I just love the little 3 1/2" Gerber drop point (folder/fixed above) if I only needed one knife that would be it.

I carry a Benchmade McHenry and Williams D2 folder every day and use it for most everything. Good blade, sharpens well and holds an edge. The other is a fixed blade Cold Steel Master Hunter, just a great useable blade and it works well for any big game tasks I've encountered. Just picked up another one of those with the San Mai laminated blade and I'm anxious to try it out.

Do you like that Cold Steel? That's my utility knife- doesn't hold an edge though. But it is stout so it has some utility. I ground a drop point into it similar profile to my Gerbers.

I carry 3 at all times...........

Leatherman
Old timer 3 blade stockman
Boker Kalashnikov auto (lately)

They handle most everything I need........


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the one knife I really miss is my cold steel carbon-V master hunter.

That knife took a wicked edge and held it...
I have no experience with the stainless steel versions...

I lost that knife when my truck was broken into and though it was subsequently recovered I never got it back from the police
(and they wonder why some people think cops are criminal scum)

I carry more knives now than I ever have. I've become a Havalon convert, so I carry one of the Havalon knives with a 1-2" blade, with lots of spare blades in both lengths.

But, you need a breaker for rib cages, etc., so I also carry a Buck, it's got about a 4 1/2" blade. Works like a charm. I think they used to call it the "Vanguard", but I could be wrong.

For butchering, I use the above two knives, and I add a Havalon filet knife. Works like a charm as a boning and trimming knife.

I also like a nice folder, just in case. So I carry a Benchmade. Never go anywhere without my Buck Stockman I got for my 16th birthday. And, I carry a Charlie May on my belt, just because I like it.

A 3 blade 4 inch Stockman in my daypack (primarily for splitting pelvises). 2-3 droppoint or semi skinners also (for gutting skinning and boning). A cross draw Dozier on my belt w/ my sidearm. I vary my (many) choices throughout the season (which never ends). Oh, and I do not leave the house w/o an AG Russell featherlite in my pocket.

I carry 3,,

3' drop point,initial cuts and openings

vitornix skinner

Case trapper,, for caping

One folder on my belt and one sheath knife in my daypack

I always carry at least two.

One is my Klien tool lightweight 3 1/2" folder in my pocket, and the other could be a Buck, Gerber, or Camillius.. on my belt... and if I'm going on a real hike into unfamiliar territory, then my homemade bronze tomahawk comes along too.

It looks like I'll be carrying my new Lee Baumgart semi-skinner in my pack this coming Fall...along with a "Grace" small dropper. Check out my stag handled knife on Lee's blog by clicking on his link under his posts.
Thanks Lee! It's a beaut and should function well.
Zeke

ZekeShikar,

Thank you for your comments and your patience while I was making it. I hope it serves you well in the field and that you have the opportunity to use it a lot!

Thanks,
Lee
http://baumgarthandmadeknives.blogspot.com/
baumgartknives@gmail.com